Latest NewsHawaii to Host APEC Summit in 2011HONOLULU (Nov. 14) – President Barack Obama’s selection of Honolulu as the site for the annual APEC Leaders Meeting in November 2011 means that Hawaii will both open the U.S. year of hosting APEC with an agenda-setting conference, as well as close the year with the huge Ministerial and Leaders meetings. President Obama announced Hawaii’s winning bid today at this year’s APEC meeting in Singapore. East-West Center President Charles E. Morrison, who coordinated the Hawaii bid for APEC 2011 and is currently attending the APEC meetings in Singapore, commented: “The fact that the president is inviting his counterpart leaders to his native town is taken in many cultures as showing guests the highest respect, and Hawai‘i is the world’s most diverse Asia-Pacific community." ... more... Victor Cha: Sanctions Regime Has Hurt North Korea and Influenced Recent 'Charm Offensive'
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 16) – The sanctions set forth by the United Nations Security Council following North Korea’s nuclear test on May 25 have “taken a bite out of North Korea,” which is why Pyongyang wants to return to the Six-Party Talks, Dr. Victor Cha said in a recent interview with the U.S. Asia Pacific Council’s Washington Report. Dr. Cha, currently senior advisor and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and a professor at Georgetown University, served as U.S. deputy head of delegation to the Six-Party Talks during the Bush administration. ...more... |
Spotlight on Public Events
Microfinance as a Tool for Community Development
“To truly empower women there should be more to microfinance than just lending money,” emphasized Kalpana Sankar, CEO of Hand in Hand in Tamil Nadu, at an EWC public program in September. “You have to provide literacy, address enterprise, financial services and linkage to markets.” Sankar spoke of the importance of self-help support groups, which when combined with microfinance and education and training workshops, have mobilized more than 400,000 poor and illiterate women in southern India through Hand in Hand’s programs. Started in 1988 with a handful of employees, the NGO now is a global organization with 3,000 employees, 30,000 volunteers, and pilot programs in South Africa, Afghanistan, and Brazil. Co-presenter Kathleen Stack, Freedom from Hunger’s Vice President for program development, discussed how her organization develops programs and partnerships that provide financial, educational, and health protection services to fight chronic hunger and poverty in 16 countries. Based in California, Freedom from Hunger’s programs empower more than 1.4 million women through training in capacity building and skills development, so they can provide sustainable livelihoods for their families. Stack and Sankar were among 11 participants in this year’s EWC Changing Faces Women’s Leadership Program, a seminar that brings together women from Asia, the Pacific, and the United States to enhance leadership abilities and address issues of concern related to a theme. This year’s theme focused on how women as entrepreneurs can foster economic growth and strengthen and build communities. Video: Click here to watch the full presentation. FEATURED PUBLICATIONSby Peter A. Petri with responses by Wendy Dobson, Yiping Huang, and Hadi Soesastro and Maria Monica Wihardja Higher Education in Asia/Pacific: Quality and the Public Good by Terance W. Bigalke and Deane E. Neubauer (eds.) The ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights and Beyond by Hao Duy Phan More publications... FEATURED SITESTime for Justice, Cambodia Asia Matters for America EWCA Blog |
